A blog on the current crises in the Middle East and news accounts unpublished by the US press. Daily timeline of events in Iraq as collected from stories and dispatches in the French and Italian media: Le Monde (Paris), Il Corriere della Sera (Milan), La Repubblica (Rome), L'Orient-Le Jour (Beirut) and occasionally from El Mundo (Madrid).

Saturday, February 17, 2007

The Vicenza Protests

Via La Repubblica.

My sentiments exactly! 50,000 100,000 Italians are protesting the extension of the US airbase in Vicenza, scene of the torture of Abu Omar and a platform for the bombing of Baghdad in '03 and potential operations against Iran. Not to mention the rendition flights.

But the Italian government says its hands are tied by a the extension agreement, signed by Berlusconi. Personally, if my Prime Minister were not allowed to set foot in Washington, then I'd close down the base!

2 Comments:

You should get your facts straight. There is no US airbase in Vicenza. There is one in Aviano, but that wasn't the subject of the protest. There are no bombers in Vicenza or even at Aviano. There is a small Army base in Vicenza and the subject of the protest was plans to expand an airborne (paratrooper) brigade that is stationed there. What proof do you have that Abu Omar was tortured in Italy? And what if the scum was? And what does Berlusconi have to do with anything? Do some research.